“I have worked extensively with study abroad programs in Europe and Latin America since 1989. In 2009 I began bringing students from Stephen F. Austin State University to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Of all the programs I have worked with, none can compare with the experiences Clara Ramos creates for our students. Clara’s personal attention to our students and her close relationships with host families provide students a wonderful homestay. The quality of her language professors and the array of excellent guest speakers from diverse fields give our students a sound immersion into Brazilian language and culture. Along with academic rigor, Clara’s programs include excursions into the city and weekend trips into the state of Bahia, replete with unique opportunities to participate in Brazilian society, and to see unforgettable parts of the world. Clara Ramos tailors each program for the specific needs of each university. Her attention to detail and impeccable organization, assure us that our students will not only have a positive, transformative experience, but they will also be able to study in Brazil in a very safe environment. My university was so impressed with the Brazil program that our provost funded 14 professors from different fields to attend the same four-week immersion experience in hopes to grow international programs.”

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Jeana Paul-Ureña

Chair of Languages, Cultures, and Communication and Professor of Spanish and Portuguese and Director of the Study Abroad Program in Bahia Stephen F. Austin State University

“Imagine sending 25 North American students to participate in a study abroad program in Brazil, and upon arrival the local coordinator greets all 25 by name, without ever having seen any of them before. And imagine that this same local coordinator adds details like, “I have arranged a homestay for you with a family that loves dogs just like you do” or “Your host family knows that you are vegetarian and they have prepared meals especially for you.”  I just described for you my experience with Clara Ramos, and it still amazes me year after year. Clara epitomizes the essence of personalized attention to details, and a focus on people as individuals.  Here at the University of Texas, every year we look forward to sending our students to Salvador to be under Clara’s care.”

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Orlando R. Kelm 柯安良, (kē, ān liáng)

Director, UT Portuguese Flagship Program UT Austin

“Clara Ramos is the perfect host and partner for our study abroad programs in Brazil.  She has immense cultural knowledge and capital as well as years of experience crafting programs for North American colleges and universities, screening and selecting host families and local experts, and watching students go through those programs.  We love her.  Our students love her.  Even our accounting people love her.  There’s simply no better host and partner for crafting a study abroad program in Brazil than Clara Ramos and ICR Brasil.”

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Prof. Dave Wilson

Professor, Dept. of TLTE and Program director of the College of Education & Human Sciences – University of Nebraska-Lincoln

“The Afro-Bahian Cultural Week, under the impeccable supervision of Professor Clara Ramos, became an essential part of the Brown-in-Brazil Program in 2007, and continues to be key to the success of the new CASA BRASIL consortium, led by Brown University. Combining high standards of professionalism with traditional Bahian hospitality, Clara and her efficient staff at ICR Brasil have developed a quality program that enriches the experience of our students through an immersion in the history, traditions and vibrant culture of one of the most dynamic regions in northeastern Brazil.”

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Luiz F. Valente

Professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies and Comparative Literature, Brown University; former director of the Brown-in-Brazil Program; current Brown faculty representative to CASA BRASIL

“No one can navigate the cultural richness of Salvador da Bahia better than Clara Ramos and her team, who all felt like family from the very moment we arrived. Thanks to Clara’s excellent organization and warm enthusiasm, my Morehouse College students and I experienced a true sense of community precisely because of the authentic relationships Clara has fostered among a vast network of local partners in the educational, political, artistic, athletic, religious, and tourism sectors. Every day held new promise and excitement whether in the Portuguese language classes, lectures by local leaders and professors, interactive workshops and site visits. Our program was carefully designed to ensure that our overall goal of learning as much as possible about the legacy of the African diaspora in Bahia was not only met but exceeded. To that end, our trip to Lençois stands as a wonderful highlight, as it afforded us the opportunity to practice capoeira with Mestre Besouro and his students, talk with members of the quilombo community, and be humbled by the beauty of the Chapada da Diamantina. These memories took root in our hearts, forever binding us to Bahia, and especially, to Clara and her team. Obrigado de coração.”

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Denise Callejas

Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese Department of Modern Foreign Languages Morehouse College and Director of the Study Abroad Program in Bahia